LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap, Copyright No.. 

Shelf„CX-3."tS 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THOMAS HILL RICH 



H flDemorial. 



CAROLINE W. D. RICH. 




°^tn^ 



J&* 



IDLEHAVEN. 
1896. 







Copyrighted 
by 
Caroline W. D. Rich, CJL/^A*-- 

JUNE, 1896. 






Journal Press, Lewiston, Me. 



TO THE NIECES OF 



THOMAS HILL RICH, 



ZTtrs. Peters, ZTtrs. tyggins, ZTTrs. Stupell, 



THIS LITTLE BOOK 



IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED. 



"And so the Word had breath and wrought 
With human hands the creed of creeds 
In loveliness of perfect deeds, 
More strong than all poetic thought." 



flntrofcuction* 



In preparing this memorial there is no 
attempt to do more than to enshrine the mem- 
ory of a modest man in this tangible form. 
It may be said of Professor Rich, truthfully, 
that his private character was of a rare order 
and his personal traits singularly lovable. It 
is not possible to give a correct impression to 
those who never met him. But those for 
whom this tribute is prepared will recognize 
the truth set forth in these pages. And if the 
brief outline of his life shall be helpful to any 
who are striving to find paths of usefulness, 
the object of this sketch will be accomplished. 

The indefinable spirit of courtesy and 
gentle, high-bred personality of Professor Rich 
was nowhere so manifest as in the privacy 
of home. Never regarding his own ease — 
never forgetting the comfort of others — he 
was the one to whom each looked for aid, for 
comfort, for counsel. No visitor left his door 
without feeling the uplifting of his quiet influ- 
ence. It was like a benediction. The sweet- 
ness and elegance of his manners gave him 



6 Thomas Hill Rich. 

easy influence with those who came to him in 
their difficulties, enabling him to help, without 
wounding, even those who were in the wrong. 

Professor Rich never talked much in gen- 
eral society except in an unobtrusive way. 
No one could have guessed the mass of infor- 
mation on all subjects which lay beneath that 
quiet exterior. Yet he was ever eager to 
learn, listening with close attention to others 
and replying with modesty. 

One incident from many may illustrate 
this. In a company of clergymen, where a 
rather spirited talk was going on upon some 
Old Testament topic, they turned to him with 
the question : " Professor Rich, what do you 
think it means ? " With a smile as modest as 
a child's, he replied : "I feel as though I know 
very little about it." This answer was so 
characteristic that all laughed heartily. He 
then gave his views, which were clear and 
conclusive, and were accepted by all present. 

Professor Rich was cordially welcomed 
everywhere. But it was emphatically in the 
circle of his friends that his fascination was 
most apparent. It had the power of a strong 
character, all the more because the possessor 
was so unconscious of it. His daily and 
hourly life, his little acts, his pleasantries, were 
all as pure as if he was in the presence of God. 
In social gatherings he often left those whose 



Memorial. 7 

company he enjoyed and sought those who felt 
ill at ease, to make for them a happier hour. 

He did not talk much of himself; even 
his deepest griefs never got the better of his 
judgment, and his personal cares were kept 
sacredly in his own heart. 

His life was always full of service for 
others. No personal gain could keep him 
from duty. He left his work when a teacher 
to be with his invalid mother, till she entered 
into her rest ; for no one could serve her quite 
so much to her mind as this beloved son — her 
youngest born. And later he gave up his 
position again to render like service to his 
father, who needed such care for the only time 
in a long life. If need seemed to require it, 
he could do many things which men seldom 
attempt, perhaps having learned thus to be use- 
ful and helpful in many domestic ways during 
these long periods of ministry. The words of 
George Herbert came often to his lips when 
the necessary demands of the invalid were 
exhausting to mind and body : 

" Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws 
Makes that and the action fine." 

The family pedigree was an honorable one, 
and he had a satisfaction in knowing it. But he 
never paraded the fact that his forefathers were 
connected with the Warwick blood on the father's 
side, though the record is unquestionable. 



8 Thomas Hill Rich. 

Thomas Hill Rich entered Bowdoin Col- 
lege, September, 1844, and was graduated 
from it in 1848. He entered Bangor Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1849 and was graduated 
in 1852. It was this same year, it appears, 
that he received the degree of A.M. from his 
Alma Mater. He was elected assistant in 
the Hebrew immediately upon his graduation 
from the Seminary, and held this position for 
two years. Again, in 1866, he was invited 
to assist Dr. Talcott. He held this position 
till he came to Bates, September, 1872. 

While living; in Bangor he was elected 
deacon in the Third Parish Church, of which 
Rev. G. W. Field, D.D., was pastor and Mr. 
E. F. Duren, senior deacon. 

Professor Rich came to Bates just when he 
was needed. He had a department to create ; 
for the Divinity School had but recently been 
transferred from New Hampton, having small 
equipment and feeble existence, and the ques- 
tion was whether or not it could be continued. 
Only through the indomitable energy of that 
rare man — Professor Fullonton — did it then 
exist. There were few students and few 
teachers. Dr. Fullonton had been compelled by 
more pressing duties to give up the Hebrew. 
Indeed, in 1871 there was not one student 
for that department. The necessity for a 
knowledge of that language was not felt then, 



Memorial. 9 

as now, by the Free Baptist denomination. 
The funds of the school were meagre ; conse- 
quently the library was deficient in the litera- 
ture of the Hebrew. 

He felt these limitations keenly, having 
come from Bangor Seminary, where the De- 
partment of Sacred Literature stood out prom- 
inently under the masterful guidance of Dr. 
Talcott, with whom he had been so intimately 
associated. His ideals of what Hebrew should 
be to a clergyman had been strengthened by 
his close relations with such a scholar, and he 
ever referred to him as one who had led him 
into the beauties of a language which, later, 
had such attractions for him. In the spirit of 
utter unselfishness he set himself to work to 
interest those who were to preach the Christ 
"of whom Moses and the prophets did write." 
In this spirit he wrought till the end — at once 
an ideal teacher and a sincere Christian. 

As a teacher his earnestness had a conta- 
gious quality, the more so because he never 
attempted to drive. He was ever a pupil with 
his pupils, ever learning while he led. He had 
genuine sympathy with those whom he in- 
structed and unvarying courtesy toward them, 
as from a gentleman to gentlemen. It is pos- 
sible that this unequipped department brought 
out the best qualities in him as teacher ; for 
the very dearth of aid for the students from 



10 Thomas Hill Rich. 

the library compelled him to draw freely from 
his own mental treasures. And his wide 
range of vision from the study of many lan- 
guages now helped him to stand upon the 
heights and, like the Seer of old, point to the 
promised Messiah. 

Apparently his absorption in others had 
left no room in his active brain to plan for his 
personal comfort, so that he came to Lewiston 
a single man. In the new atmosphere and 
new environments he felt the need of home 
ties as he had not while in his native city, 
where his sister — Mrs. Amos M. Roberts — 
had taken the mother-place to him after the 
parental home was no more. 

At this distance he missed her loving 
though tfulness. In November, 1876, Pro- 
fessor Rich married and took up his residence 
in Auburn. Here some of his happiest years 
were spent. The High Street Congregational 
Church and its Sunday-school became his 
church home. 

In the autumn of 1887 he built a modest 
house on Frye Street in Lewiston. This change 
of residence afforded him an opportunity to do 
more for his pupils, while it brought him into 
closer contact with the College and Divinity 
School Faculty, socially. Here he made pupils 
and associates welcome with that simple grace 
which was his pre-eminent characteristic. 



Memorial. 11 

As he had been when a student and among 
early friends, so he continued, — unflinching if 
duty demanded — self-sacrificing always. No 
one knew his struggles, his disappointments, 
his hopes, his burdens. Yet they surely came 
into his life experience, but he fought his 
battles alone. 

In his scholarly instincts Professor Rich 
was critical, with intellectual^ humility so 
marked that it made him conservative. Yet 
he was singularly ready to accept the develop- 
ments of science. Without egotism he decided 
for himself in his investigations, and what he 
knew was the result of most thorough and 
painstaking research. 

He knew how to use books and make them 
reveal to him their stores. He did not collect 
a large library, but he had on his shelves the 
best — the rare and critical of all languages that 
could possibly aid him in his investigations. 



FAMILY HISTORY. 



Hosea Rich, M.D., was born in Charlton, 
Worcester County, Mass., October 1, 1780. 
He was son of Paul and Mary Rich, and grand- 
son of Deacon Jonathan Dennis, who was 
a Representative for twenty successive years in 
the Massachusetts Legislature. 

In his childhood he was inured to labor on 
the paternal farm, and thus by his physical train- 
ing he laid the foundation of that vigorous con- 
stitution, that robust health, which continued 
to the late evening of life, so that he always 
possessed a sound mind in a sound body. 

He early manifested a decided preference 
for the study of medicine, but as he was the 
only surviving son his parents desired to retain 
his services on the farm ; yet by the advice of 
his grandfather they at last reluctantly yielded 
to his importunity, and after attending a com- 
mon school and receiving instruction from a 
clergyman of his native town, he became a 
medical student of Dr. John Elliot Eaton, a 
skillful physician of Dudley, Mass., who was 
a graduate of Harvard University. 

January 6, 1803, Dr. Rich married Mrs. 
Fanny Goodale, whose maiden name was 
Barker, and who died in May, 1864. By her 



Memorial. 13 

he became the father of eight children, one of 
whom was an able physician, and the youngest 
of whom was the late Professor Thomas H. 
Rich. 

In 1803, at the age of twenty-five, he 
began to seek a favorable location. He was 
induced by the late John Barker, Esq., a 
brother of Mrs. Rich, to establish himself in 
Bangor, Maine, where he arrived on July 4, 
1805. There, for more than sixty years, he 
actively and successfully practiced medicine and 
surgery. 

Dr. Rich was President of the Penobscot 
County Medical Association and of the Maine 
Medical Association. He received the hon- 
orary degree of M.D. from Bowdoin College 
in 1851. 

At the time Dr. Rich began his professional 
career in Bangor he had a competitor in the 
person of Dr. Balch, who was a gentleman of 
popular manners and respectable professional 
skill, but with strong inclinations for political 
honors. Dr. Rich, on the other hand, had one 
object only in view, and that object was his 
profession. The result, as might be expected, 
was in every respect favorable. His science 
and reputation were ever advancing. 

He loved the practice of medicine and also 
of surgery with an intensity unsurpassed. For 
this he sacrificed everything that stood in its 



14 Thomas Hill Rich. 

way. Its duties to him were always para- 
mount in importance, its emoluments subordi- 
nate. His services could always be commanded 
alike by the poor and the rich. No pestilence 
that walketh in darkness, no destruction that 
wasteth at noonday, neither summer's heat nor 
winter's cold, neither darkness nor distance, 
ever appalled or impeded him in the discharge 
of his beneficent work ; but with him the path 
of duty was ever the path of pleasantness. 

As a surgeon, he was cautious and con- 
servative. Though fond of operating, he was 
more desirous to preserve than to amputate. 
His hand was firm and steady, without a 
tremor, to the last day of his life. He per- 
formed important operations very frequently, 
and was remarkably successful. His first cap- 
ital operation was the amputation of a leg in 
1809, and his last operation was the delicate 
one of couching for cataract, June 27, 1865, 
when at more than fourscore years , with natural 
force unabated, with clear eye and steady hand, 
he then gave the inestimable blessing of sight 
to a blind old man. 

He was an universally popular man, and 
that is much to say. He saw nothing but his pro- 
fession, and was constantly serving his fellow- 
men. He was very agreeable in his manners, 
and courteous to and honorable with all men. 
He was a very fine and impressive-looking man. 



Memorial. 15 

After his death, his life was briefly described 
and its merits and usefulness beautifully por- 
trayed by the Rev. Dr. Charles C. Everett, 
then of the Unitarian pulpit in Bangor. Rev. 
Dr. Everett's allusions and descriptions were 
interesting and touching, and the folio wing- 
passage is quoted therefrom : 

" One has gone from us whose usefulness 
is bound up with the history of our city almost 
from its beginning. For sixty years it has 
known no pause or rest. His usefulness was 
not the service of a slave or hireling, but it 
was the service of love. It was the outgrowth 
of an enthusiasm for the work he had chosen 
and of a genial and hearty interest in those 
about him. His profession was a life and not 
a livelihood. Rich and poor shared alike the 
blessing of its unselfish zeal. He accepted 
with a certain pride the most difficult and toil- 
some accompaniments of these great duties. 
All honored this simple and earnest life. All 
loved to see the venerable form, erect beneath 
the burden of years and of cares, pass through 
the streets on its errands of mercy. All took 
a certain pride in the hale and hearty age, and 
in the fine form of one whose life was thus 
identified with their own city." 

John A. Peteks. 
Bangor, Me. 



CONTRIBUTIONS. 



The late Professor T. H. Rich of Cobb 
Divinity School I first knew intimately in a 
relation which proved revelatory. He was Pro- 
fessor of Hebrew, a ripe scholar, and a spe- 
cialist in Holy Writ. I was a layman and a 
teacher of a Bible class at the High Street 
Conoreo-ational Church in Auburn. He de- 
clined my urgent request that he take my place, 
but he insisted on being my pupil. While, of 
course, I was delighted to have him in the 
class, his presence there seemed to me to be 
what it was in actuality, grotesque. But I 
think it was an excellent lesson to me in some 
of the benedictions of the Gospel. There was 
neither the affectation of humility nor the slight- 
est conceit in Professor Rich. Some men have 
intellectual complacency when dispossessed of 
Phariseeism, but Professor Rich had neither of 
these traits. It goes without saying, if his Bible 
class teacher did not learn from such a pupil 
more than he could possibly impart to any of 
his pupils, that he was not only conspicuously 
unfit for instruction, but exceedingly disquali- 
fied from the teacher's first duty of learning. 

First impressions of Professor Rich were 
fortified by a completer acquaintance. I must 



Memorial. 17 

call him a personality quite unlike any I have 
ever met. Of course, we all like men to be 
themselves rather than echoes of others. The 
genuineness of Professor Rich was his felicity. 
To feminine delicacy and refinement, he united 
virile zeal in whatsoever he undertook. When- 
ever he read to me, as sometimes he did, with 
unobtrusive modesty, some of his versions from 
the Old Testament, I was impressed with the 
keen appreciation with which he saw the ori- 
ental life and mind. The rhythm of things 
was his inspiration. Words were pictures and 
music. He was an interlinear prophet. As a 
scholar and specialist I honor him for his fidelity 
to trifles as well as for his splendid intellectual 
horizon. His mind was not all latitude, not 
all longitude, but his mental and moral quali- 
ties were correlated in what tended to spherical 
completeness. I have seen so many specialists 
without breadth, so many inverted cones of 
wisdom, that Professor Rich's gifts of sim- 
plicity, catholicity, and modesty were to me a 
revelation of the sphere of breadth in which all 
inspiring life must start from the ground. 

I cannot stay to enlarge on the felicities of 
Professor Rich's mind and heart, further than 
to add that they saturated and created his con- 
duct. His thoughtfulness and consideration fol- 
lowed me. He was a friend to tie to, because 
he was loyal, charitable, and given to putting 



18 Thomas Hill Rich. 

the best impressions on the acts of others as 
well as on Holy Writ. His mind and his heart 
were so pure that to caricature him would be 
much like caricaturing an orchard in June. 

I was astonished on completer acquaintance 
to find that the Professor knew the art of enjoy- 
ment. He possessed a keen sense of humor. 
He could laugh from the bottom of his heart, 
rather than from the top of his head. The 
humanity of the Professor delighted me. He 
was what is better than likeable — he was 
lovable. 

While away from home, a few years ago, 
I received occasional letters from him, which 
showed him to have been in the unconscious 
possession of a somewhat superseded art. His 
letters told just what one wished to know of 
the neighborhood with which we were both 
identified ; told it gracefully and happily, in 
the delightful way of Charles Lamb rather than 
in the fragmentary way of the typewriter. His 
thoughtfulness was conspicuous in what he 
wrote as in what he did. 

His death in the midst of usefulness makes 

it necessary to reconcile arrested careers here 

with implicit faith in immortal development 

yonder, if we would justify the power of God 

by His love. 

Fkank L. Dingle y. 



Memorial. 19 

Professor Rich was an admirable repre- 
sentative of true manhood. As a teacher his 
abilities were of the first quality. He left 
behind him only the sweetest influences. To 
few persons do the words apply as well : 

"His life was gentle; and the elements 
So mix'cl in him, that Xatnre might stand np, 
And say to all the world, This vms a man I " 

O. B. Cheney. 



On July 6, 1893, Professor Rich went out 
from his beautiful home to return in less than 
a quarter of an hour borne tenderly by those 
upon whom the awe of his sudden death had 
so swiftly descended. In the three years that 
have passed there have come from many and 
distant places messages of sympathy, tributes 
of love and reverence, that show how deep and 
wide was the influence of a life never with- 
drawn from the quiet paths of scholarship and 
the gentle ministrations of love. 

Thomas Hill Rich was born in Bangor, 
September 5, 1822. His father, Hosea Rich, 
and his mother, Frances (Barker) Rich, were 
of English desceDt, and of ancestry so marked 
that their lineage is clearly traceable through 
many generations, — the father's through more 
than four centuries. Their youngest child in- 



20 Thomas Hill Rich. 

herited the distinctive traits of each parent. 
His father was for many years one of the fore- 
most and best-known physicians in Maine. 
Coming in his early manhood with his wife 
from their home in Worcester County, Mass., 
he won a distinction in his profession that not 
only made him one of the leading citizens of 
Bangor, but an authority in surgery quoted in 
Europe as well as in America. The son inher- 
ited his father's thoroughness, persistency, and 
love of research, while to his mother he owed 
that gentleness, modesty, and constant thought- 
fulness for others which impressed every one 
who knew him. From his mother, too, he 
received that constant encouragement to study 
and self-improvement which the absorbing du- 
ties of an active professional life forbade from 
his father. By her, also, were nurtured that 
reverence, humility, and helpfulness which 
made the piety of her son at once so beautiful 
and so practical. Converted while but a school- 
boy, through all subsequent changes he carried 
the evidence of his discipleship in his life. 

Preparing for college in the Bangor High 
School, he entered Bowdoin in 1844, and 
graduated in 1848. Of his scholarly spirit 
and his progress as a student it is unnecessary 
to speak. To his life in college a classmate 
pays this tribute : 

"He was a real friend to every poor, sick, 



Memorial. 21 

and troubled boy in college. He was a friend 
to us all without any distinction of clubs or 
societies. I think he had the love and respect 
of every man in every class, . . . not only 
for his kindness in their sickness and trouble 
but for his manifest interest in their personal 
religious welfare. I think he made it a point 
to have a personal conversation on religious 
things with every student. I never met a more 
earnest and devoted Christian in all my life." 

The value of this testimony can be appreci- 
ated only by those who knew Professor Rich. 
Never obtrusive, gifted with a delicate sense of 
what belongs to the rights of others, shrinking 
from controversy, and reading* as by intuition 
the feelings of a companion before they could 
be expressed in words — he gave proof in these 
successful endeavors to touch the hearts and 
influence the lives of his fellow-students not 
merely of tactful sympathy but of a rare moral 
courage. Nor was this manifested in his col- 
lege life alone. The casual observer might be 
impressed only by his gentleness and modesty. 
Those who enjoyed his friendship know how 
persistently true he was to his convictions. 
Few men have shown equal fidelity to high 
ideals. It would be difficult to conceive of his 
pure life as adjusting itself to the lower stand- 
ards of the selfish and the superficial. His 
entire mode of life was a reflection of his own 



22 Thomas Hill Rich. 

individuality. His was an exacting, though a 
healthy conscience, but he gave heed to it, 
whatever might seem to be the exigencies of 
the hour. No demands of social or political 
life could move this quiet man to violate his 
own sense of the right, the fitting. 

He was always peculiarly tender toward the 
sick, often ministering to them with his own 
hands and always with a fine sense of the 
needs of the sufferer which made his very 
presence grateful and refreshing. Entering, in 
1849, Bangor Theological Seminary, he grad- 
uated in 1852, and was at once appointed 
assistant instructor in Hebrew. Evidently the 
language that proved so fascinating to him 
through his later life had deeply interested 
him at his first acquaintance. Subsequently 
he taught some years in the Seminary at 
Bucksport, and afterward for a little less than 
two years in the Portland High School during 
the principalship of Dr. J. H. Hanson. Sum- 
moned from this position to minister again to an 
invalid in his father's home, he at length resumed 
the work of assistant instructor in Hebrew in 
the Theological Seminary, Bangor. Here he 
formed many precious and enduring friend- 
ships. The students were drawn to him not 
only by his helpfulness as a teacher but by the 
charm of a nature exquisitely refined and sym- 
pathetic. Keenly sensitive to the harsh and 



Memorial. 23 

painful in human experience, he yet, following 
in the footsteps of his master, sought out the 
poor and neglected, and patiently and methodi- 
cally devoted himself to supplying both their 
bodily and their spiritual needs. The interpre- 
tation which he thus gave of the missionary 
spirit and endeavor was quite as helpful to the 
young men in the Seminary as any exegesis 
could be, however searching and true. The 
direct testimony of one of the students of that 
period shows that the lesson thus practically 
given was not lost. 

In 1872, the call to the professorship of 
Hebrew in the Theological Department of 
Bates College (now Cobb Divinity School) 
seemed to open a wider sphere of usefulness to 
Mr. Rich, and he left Bangor for Lewiston. 
There for twenty-one years he has been the 
beloved professor, delighting in his work and 
the companionships that it brought him. Un- 
tiring in his preparation for the recitation room 
and in his painstaking and thorough instruc- 
tion, eagerly solicitous for the progress of every 
one of his students, he yet found time to inter- 
est himself in the social life of the school and 
the community. Even before he had provided 
for himself a home, he made his students 
familiar with the attractions of his tasteful 
rooms, becoming to them not only their hon- 
ored teacher but their dear personal friend. 



24 Thomas Hill Rich. 

He shared their joys and their sorrows, com- 
forted and helped them in their troubles, and 
steadily imparted to them the elevating and 
refining influence of his own pure tastes and 
scholarly spirit. 

After his marriage in 1876, his home was 
the delightful resort of students, fellow-teach- 
ers, and friends. Always putting a very modest 
estimate upon his own attainments, he was 
eager to impart whatever of value he had. 

"And gladly would he learn and gladly teach." 

With a wife thoroughly in sympathy with 
his tastes, he succeeded in making his quiet 
and unpretentious home a place at once restful 
and beautiful to every visitor. Nothing gave 
him more pleasure than to entertain his friends, 
and he was one of the most successful of hosts. 
He studied to make his guests happy, but his 
attentions to them were as natural and artless as 
those of a child. In their society he indulged 
that love of pleasantry which his intimate 
friends know to have been so characteristic. 
He had both wit and humor, and they were 
always as pure and refined as they were spon- 
taneous ! 

Happy is the man who never wholly ceases 
to be a boy ! Few have in equal degree with 
Professor Rich retained through a long life 
that love of nature and that susceptibility to 



Memorial. 25 

its influence which is justly considered so choice 
a part of one's endowment in youth . The sun- 
rise and the sunset, the songs of the birds, and 
the silent beauty of the stars, never lost their 
charm for him. As he took from his window 
his favorite morning view, he would often ex- 
claim, "It is more beautiful than ever before." 
From his first walk in spring to his last in 
autumn, he rarely returned to his home with- 
out bringing some leafy token of his rambles. 

His perennial youth showed itself, too, in 
his love for children, and the ease with which 
he entered into their fancies and pleasures. 
They always loved him and were at home with 
him. He had a sincere respect for the indi- 
viduality of each, however young, and won 
confidence by a sympathy which was instinct- 
ively felt to be genuine. 

Equally interesting to him was the life of 
young men and young women. He appreci- 
ated the possibilities before them and was eager 
to be helpful to them. 

A single example out of the many that 
his life afforded deserves notice. It is full of 
inspiration to all minds. A young man sixteen 
years of age went from northern Maine to work 
in the Journal office in Lewiston. Some of 
his friends wrote Professor Rich about him. 
After Professor Rich's death Mrs. Rich received 
a letter from this young man, now in business 



26 Thomas Hill Rich. 

in a large city, in which, though an entire 
stranger to her, he expressed his sympathy and 
regret for her loss. I quote a few sentences : 
"He 'made it his business to befriend me. It 
was my privilege to attend church with him 
regularly, and on several occasions to take tea 
with him in his apartments. Having no father, 
I felt for him the affection of a son, and 
although a multiplicity of cares and troubles 
have since forced me to neglect him, I have 
never for one instant forgotten him, nor ever 
shall, as the kindest, most disinterested friend 
a young man could possibly have." 

This letter gives the key-note to the char- 
acter of Professor Rich. It was the Christian 
motive of disinterested helpfulness that ruled 
his life. He had the aspirations and attain- 
ments of a true scholar, but he lived to do 
good. His published works show how careful 
and finished was his scholarship, but they show 
even more impressively his earnest purpose to 
make God's word helpful to those who should 
read those portions of it that he had so care- 
fully translated. 

He was a member of the American Oriental 
Society and one of the first members of the 
Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. He 
was also a member of the Genealogical Society 
of Maine and of the Maine Historical Society. 
His contributions to religious periodicals were 



Memorial. 27 

numerous and highly prized. At Professor 
Harper's personal request he had contributed 
articles to "The Old and New Testament Stu- 
dent." He had also written for the " Treasury," 
and was by special request to furnish another 
article to appear in the early fall. His four 
published works have established his reputation 
as a Hebrew scholar. But an honest expression 
of thanks for the help that he had given toward 
the better understanding of some passage of 
scripture was worth more to him than the 
amplest tribute to his scholarship. 

Such expressions often came to him, and 
they always gave him new joy in his work. 
In his translations, the peculiar qualities of his 
style appear to the best advantage — above all 
his fine choice of words. He conscientiously 
strove to reproduce, as far as possible, the 
exact thought of the original. To this end he 
compared not only the Arabic and Syriac 
versions of the Old Testament, not only the 
Septuagint and the Vulgate, but the transla- 
tions into French and German, seeking to find 
through the careful study of all some means of 
conveying the thought more precisely. 

Incidental reference has been made to 
his favorite studies. He was not unfamiliar 
with Spanish and Italian. He was a con- 
stant reader not only of French and German 
works, but of the English classics. Of Shake- 



28 Thomas Hill Kich. 

speare and Milton he was always an appre- 
ciative student. 

Yet few scholars have conceded so much to 
the diversions of life. Every day found him 
for a little while at the piano ; in the morning 
and on Sundays singing his favorite hymns, at 
other times renewing the past with long familiar 
songs. His love of melody manifested itself, 
too, in his writings. They were characterized 
not only by choice diction, simplicity, and 
directness, but by their fine rhythmical effect. 
His exquisite ear for cadences and musical bal- 
ances was, doubtless, in part the result of his 
loving study of Hebrew parallelisms. 

To his life-long study of Hebrew, too, is 
referable in some degree the rich quaintness of 
his style, especially in his translations. This 
quality was in part, also, the result of his deep 
interest in his mother tongue. For his use of 
English reflected in a pleasing way the etymol- 
ogy of his carefully chosen words. Language 
to him was fragrant with associations — the 
words suggesting their primitive meanings and 
their use by his favorite authors. Of this habit 
of his mind, his best-known lecture, "Lessons 
in Words," was one of the natural fruits. The 
revision of this lecture and of his recent trans- 
lation of Habakkuk occupied nearly all of his 
last day on earth. It was Thursday, and on 
the next Sunday evening he was to read the 



Memorial. 29 

translation at the Congregational church in 
Kennebunkport. On August 12th he was to 
give the lecture in the Chautauqua Assembly 
course at Fryeburg ; and in the same place 
on August 15th, he was again to present his 
translation in a Bible reading. For three 
hours he had sat in his study, the soft tones of 
his voice just audible in the adjoining room, as, 
after his custom, he slowly read each sentence, 
testing its flow and cadence. About half-past 
four o'clock in the afternoon he rose, saying 
cheerily to his wife, "I am going now," words 
whose deep significance was sadly disclosed 
only a few minutes later. 

What wonder that such a man had friends ! 
Through his entire life, to old and young, to 
rich and poor, to the learned and the unlettered, 
he had "shown himself friendly." Peculiarly 
tender were his feelings toward his own kin- 
dred. For his early home-friends and his rela- 
tives, time could only deepen and strengthen 
his affectionate regard. He appreciated their 
thoughtfulness for him. Devoted to his books, 
he felt himself peculiarly favored in being able 
to have in his business affairs such faithful and 
capable counselors. To Chief Justice Peters, 
the husband of one of his nieces, he felt him- 
self, as the writer has often heard him say, 
under signal obligations for his constant and 
disinterested assistance in affairs of great impor- 



30 Thomas Hill Rich. 

tance. Nor was any of the many favors done 
him by his numerous friends ever forgotten. 
He had a large correspondence, for he made 
new friends at every period of his life, and a 
friendship once formed was forever sacred to 
him. His sudden removal from the old familiar 
friends and places abruptly terminated this 
intercourse by letters after it had been main- 
tained in some instances for more than two- 
score years. 

It is now three years since the life of our 
friend was withdrawn from the quiet associa- 
tions with which it so harmoniously blended. 
His was an individuality never accentuated by 
ambition, seldom agitated by marked changes 
in plans or experience. Yet it is distinctly 
outlined in the minds of all who had felt its 
gracious influence. Form, face, expression, 
voice, and movement seemed perfectly respon- 
sive to the living soul. And to-day Professor 
Rich is to those who really knew him a sacred 
presence rather than a cherished memory. The 
most life-like photograph, the most speaking 
portrait, could scarcely more than confirm the 
abiding sense of his serene and steadfast per- 
sonality. Thus "he being dead yet speaketh." 

George C. Chase. 

President of Bates College, Lewiston, Me. 



Memorial. 31 

New Hayen, Conn., April 23, 1896. 
Dear Mrs. Rich: 

I am glad you are to prepare a memorial of 
your husband. I knew him intimately when I 
resided in Bangor. I esteemed him as a man 
of superior intellect and scholarship and of 
very lovely character. I thought him admir- 
ably fitted for the professorship which he held, 
and was glad when I heard he had accepted it 
and had begun his work on a line so well suited 
to his taste and for which he was so well fitted. 
The volumes which he published were carefully 
prepared, evinced thorough scholarship, and 
were fitted to be instructive and helpful to the 
reader. He was a very estimable man, and I 
heartily sympathize with you in your sorrowful 
bereavement. 

With cordial regard, 

Very truly yours, 

Samuel Hakris. 



I cannot forbear expressing my great sor- 
row for his death, both as the loss to me of 
a much esteemed friend and the loss to the 
church of a highly esteemed and influential 
scholar and teacher. . . . He was a man of 
lovely spirit. He was like Paul, who says, 
"We were gentle among you," and a beautiful 



32 Thomas Hill Rich. 

example of conformity with the repeated apos- 
tolic requirement, "Be gentle toward all men." 
He was also a man of fine intellect and of high 
scholarship in his department. He is a great 
loss to all. 

S. H. . 

(Extract from a letter, July, 1893.) 



I count it a privilege to have my name 
enrolled among the friends of Thomas H. 
Rich. My acquaintance with him began as 
long ago as 1859, and there must be very 
few persons living who have known him so 
long and so intimately as a companion, fellow- 
student, guest, and correspondent. He was 
always a welcome visitor at my house, where 
his interest in children and young people found 
kindly expression, perhaps in a dish of "honey 
candy" which he had himself compounded 
with womanly skill and personal satisfaction, 
or in the gift of flowers which he had plucked 
from his father's garden, or in the offer of a 
drive over the Bangor hills. 

For a number of years we had a weekly 
appointment for common reading, in English 
or Greek or German, which gave me ample 
opportunity to see how thoroughly he was 
accustomed to investigate every linguistic ques- 



Memorial. 33 

tion and to base his conclusions on careful 
research. He lacked self-assertion, possibly, 
and was modest to a fault, but he knew that 
certainty must come from personal investiga- 
tion, and so he would not shrink from any 
detail, but work out his conclusions by the use 
of all the means at his command. Accurate 
in his scholarship, painstaking in his search 
for truth, even when distrustful of his own 
ability, he set an example of conscientious 
fidelity to duty which every student may well 
follow. 

In character he might fitly be described, 
like Nathaniel of old, as "an Israelite indeed 
in whom is no guile," for I never knew a man 
whose life was so thoroughly transparent. 
No Roentgen rays could have disclosed any 
subterfuge or crookedness in him. 

His sweet disposition, his gentle manner, 
his soft, sweet voice, and his kindly, genuine 
sympathy with all who were in any manner of 
trouble, gave him special fitness for the office 
of a deacon, and for ministrations to the sick 
and needy. No rude questioning, no impa- 
tient complaint, no harsh utterance ever fell 
from his lips, and if his speech ever hesitated, 
perhaps his look and actions were more expres- 
sive of tender sympathy than a multitude of 
words could have been. 

He must have shown the same character- 

3 



34 Thomas Hill Rich. 

istics in the professor's chair, bearing patiently 
the imperfections of his pupils, and setting 
them an example of unwearied and faithful 
study. In later years he often spoke to me in 
his letters of certain students in whose welfare 
and proficiency he was taking the deepest 
interest, and of whose success as ministers of 
the Word he felt confident. Of these there 
must be not a few who revere his memory and 
recall his work for them with unbounded 
satisfaction. 

His occasional publications are character- 
istic of the man, illustrating his habit of 
elaborating details, his nice discriminations, his 
exquisite taste. His was the quiet, unevent- 
ful life of the scholar, seeking wisdom for its 
own sake and that he might impart it to others, 
and thus enjoying equally the acquisition and 
the imparting, and the assurance at the same 
time that he was serving God in his generation 
and according to the measure of his ability. 

I honor his memory and gladly join with 

others in offering this brief and imperfect 

tribute. 

Edward W. Oilman. 

Bible House, New York. 



Memorial. 35 

Every mention of his name carries my 
mind back to times more than thirty years 
ago, and our friendship then formed became 
intimacy of the closest kind, with frequent 
stated meetings for reading and study. 

He was distrustful of himself in those 
days, but what he knew, he knew ; and his 
careful habits of study were preparing the 
way for research and confident conclusions 
such as are shown in his publications of late 
years. 

In our family, also, he made himself at 
home ; fond of the children as they were of 
him, and glad to make them happy by any 
means in his power. He was not a man to 
let go any friendship which he had taken up — 
a fact which was evinced by the interest with 
which he followed the career of students or 
others whom he had taught or befriended. 

I have before me his photograph, endorsed 
with his own name, with the date of November 
11, 1892, which reproduces finely the outline 
of his face and the eagerness of his gaze from 
beneath his overhanging eyebrows. 

Sincerely yours, 

E. W. G. 

(Extract from letter of 1893.) 



36 Thomas Hill Rich. 

Bangor, June 13, 1896. 
My Dear Mrs. Rich: 

1 have thought of Deacon Rich while living 
among us as one who in an unusual degree was 
filled with the Holy Spirit ; who sat at the feet 
of Jesus, and learned of Him ; who lived above 
the world while living in it, having the sim- 
plicity that was in Christ, desiring the sincere 
milk of the Word that he might grow thereby. 
He heard the Shepherd's voice, and followed 
Him. His was the humble and contrite spirit 
with which God dwells, whose communion and 
fellowship is with the Father and with His Son 
Jesus Christ. He gave evidence that "to be 
spiritually minded is life and peace." It might 
be said of him, "Thy gentleness hath made me 
great." 

His life and work, permeated by such char- 
acteristics, was sweet, uplifting, and ennobling. 
He manifested love and good- will to all, seek- 
ing opportunities to minister to the poor and 
needy, the suffering and bereaved. We were 
drawn near to God by his prayers, and strength- 
ened by his words concerning Christ and the 
things pertaining to His kingdom. 

He took great delight in the study of God's 
word ; it was his meditation day and night ; 
and in after life by unfolding its treasures he 
aided much those who came under his influence 
and instruction. 



Memorial. 37 

The following words of Robert W. Barbour 
seem applicable to him : 

"The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit 
is like the dust from flowers in bloom. It insin- 
uates and distills. The meek man is not with- 
out opinions, or a stranger to enterprise ; but 
he has no desire to see his opinions imposed on 
others. Children find out the meek, for meek- 
ness is the childhood of the soul. Haughty 
men are never young, and the meek never 
grow old." 

He walked with Grod, and was not, for 

God took him. What must be his joy now, 

in continuing his service in the heavenly life, 

in knowing even as he is known, in seeing face 

to face Him whom not having seen he loved 

here below. 

Yours very truly, 

E. F. Duren. 

Bangor, 1896. 



My classmate Rich's influence in his college 
life was that of an unobtrusive though not silent 
and courage-lacking man. Subjectively his 
religion was a love of the right and of goodness 
and truth with sincerity, consistency, firmness, 
and modesty ; objectively it was right-doing 
toward all, without selfishness, and with that 
charity which the apostle declares to be greater 



38 Thomas Hill Rich. 

than faith or hope. That outflow of kindly 
sympathy which led him in his native city to 
seek out the poor in their homes, and under the 
cover of darkness to carry succor to the widow 
and the orphan, in college led him to seek the 
acquaintance of entering boys whom he had 
reason to suppose might feel deeply the separa- 
tion from home or be exposed to rough experi- 
ences or seductive temptations, and render the 
comfort of his cheer or perhaps the actual 
shelter of his protection — for he was never 
afraid to face his fellow-students when they 
were in the wrong. In case of sickness, too, 
I do not believe that the room of a fellow-stu- 
dent was ever wanting of his kind and helpful 
visits. 

This was his Christian character in college 
from the day of his entrance to the day of his 
graduation, seen and known of all. What 
impression it made no one can tell, but it can- 
not be that it was not a real and lasting one in 
its silent action. J. B. Sewall. 



Dear Mrs. Rich : 

If we can give our friends pleasure here on 
earth, perhaps we can give them pleasure in 
heaven. They may think of us oftener than 
we do of them. They may know of us more 
than we do of them. In the midst of their 



Memorial. 39 

joys there may be room for many a tender 
thought of our little life here below — the life 
they once lived, woven out of the same joys 
and sorrows, the same hopes, ambitions, endeav- 
ors. -And when we try, even in our poor way, 
to make sacred and permanent all that was 
sweet and holy in their memory here on earth, 
it must add a fresh thrill of pleasure to then- 
hearts even in heaven. 

I first met your husband in college. He was 
a member of the Senior Class, and I had just 
entered as a Sophomore. To me, the distance 
between was quite immeasurable. A Senior 
was a man of dignity and erudition ; a man of 
affairs ; a man of the world ; while a Sopho- 
more was still in his callow youth, and had no 
particular rights that an upper-classman was 
bound to respect. It was a surprise to me, 
therefore, when he bridged the gulf, and by 
his numberless acts of kindness and considera- 
tion fastened my friendship to him for life. To 
be sure a sordid mind might suggest that he was 
simply "fishing" me — fishing me for the A A 
on the one hand, and the Praying Circle on 
the other. He was a member of both, and 
into both I followed him in due time. But 
the same kindly attentions, the same thoughtful 
and almost paternal care, continued long after 
that ; and no one could imagine that such per- 
sistent friendliness could come from any other 



40 Thomas Hill Kich. 

motive than the genuine Christian nature of 
the man. 

For some years I was out of the country 
and lost sight of him. But after my return I 
found he had quietly settled himself down in 
the teacher's chair — the one pursuit of all others 
for which his abilities and tastes were evidently 
foreordained. In that profession he spent his 
life. Of his success those who have enjoyed 
his instructions can testify. His published 
translations from the Hebrew bear witness to 
his scholarship and his scrupulous fidelity ; and 
show with what sympathy and insight he entered 
into the visions of the ancient seer. Their 
metrical form exhibits much of the poetic fire 
and spiritual energy of the original. His work 
as an interpreter of the Old Testament script- 
ures was not simply linguistic and exegetical, 
but also literary and spiritual. 

He was a man of excessive modesty, of 
quiet refinement and feminine delicacy. He 
had no taste for notoriety. Life pleased him 
best when it was spent 

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, 

in the quiet joys of the fireside, or in the seclu- 
sion of his library. His beloved books were 
personal friends ; and in the daily routine of 
class work his mind and heart were continually 
refreshed by their companionship. His intel- 



Memorial. 41 

lectual nature was satisfied and inspired by the 
high themes which formed the subject-matter 
of his daily study. And underneath all stood 
the solid foundation of his Christian manhood, 
a profound conviction of the ever-present sover- 
eign of his heart, the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
an ardent faith in the great verities of the un- 
seen world. We can well imagine that his 
sudden translation from the earthly work to the 
heavenly found him well prepared by faith, and 
discipline, and study, to enter upon new and 
larger methods of serving his Master. And 
the same powers which were so fully enlisted 
here, now expanded and hallowed and puri- 
fied, we can think of as still more happily 
engaged in loftier service of his Lord, and in 
personal fellowship with the prophets and sages 
whose wisdom it was his delight to study here 
below. Very sincerely yours, 

John S. Sewall. 

Bangor Theological Seminary. 



Bucksport, Me. 
Dear Mrs. Rich : 

What your loss is I think I can better 

understand than most, knowing Professor Rich 

so well. As I recall those Seminary days of 

study, and later on when, broken down in 



42 Thomas Hill Rich. 

health, I had returned to my old home,* his 
frequent little calls and visits, I seem to see 
his loving face and hear his gentle voice and 
receive the benediction of his presence. He 
was a loving friend, a constant friend, a faith- 
ful friend. Not many such are found. Earth 
is a sweeter place while they tarry here below, 
and departing, heaven becomes more winsome 
and attractive. 

But he has gone ; but going has left for 
you the Past, with all your mutual achieve- 
ments and enjoyments ; the Present, with all 
its sweet recollections and blessed anticipa- 
tions ; the Future, with its glorious realizations 
and blissful reunions. Not many in their hour 
of sorest loss have left so many sources of 
highest comfort. Alfred L. Skinner. 



I first met Mr. Rich in college. I was late 
about joining my class, was blue and homesick. 
His kind words and acts cheered me up and 
inspired me with a love and respect for him 
which has never known any interruption from 
that day to this. And not only to me was he a 
real friend, but to every poor, sick, or troubled 
boy in college. He was a friend to us all 

* Professor Rich was then teaching in the seminary 
in Bucksport. 



Memorial. 43 

without any distinction of clubs or societies. 
I think he had the love and respect of every 
man in every class. They loved and respected 
him not only for his kindness in their sickness 
and troubles, but for his manifested interest in 
their personal religious welfare. I think he 
made it a point to have a personal conversation 
on their personal interest in religious things 
with every student. I have never met a more 
earnest and devoted Christian in all my life. 

One incident in his college life I have 
thought of a thousand times as evidence of this 
self-sacrificing nature. It was his taking under 
his sheltering wing a boy of another class, 
much younger than himself, who had fallen 
into the hands of evil associates and consequent 
evil habits. He even took him to be his room- 
mate for a time, uncongenial as he must have 
been. It was always a mystery to me how he 
got him there, such was the great difference of 
their characters and habits. But he did it, 
and kept him there and brought him back to 
sobriety and made him a useful man, who 
became prominent in his profession in Wash- 
ington. 

It has been a great pleasure to me to think 
that I ever became acquainted with him and 
could number him among my friends. 

G. S. Newcomb. 
Westboro, Mass. 



44 Thomas Hill Rich. 

Burlington, Vt., July 9, 1896. 
Dear Mrs. Rich: 

Strange as it may seem to you, your letter 
is the first intimation I have had of the death 
of my excellent college mate, Prof. Thomas H. 
Eich. 

His example probably influenced me more 
than that of any other student. I was but 
fifteen, and he, whatever was his age, was 
already remarkably mature in character and 
conduct. I sat at the same table with him 
during my first term at Bowdoin, and I can 
see him before me as I write. He was in the 
middle, a sort of president of the mess. I sat 
at the end toward the east. His handsome 
face became almost brilliant as soon as he 
entered into conversation with other students. 
Boy as I was, he treated me with marked 
respect, listened carefully to what I said, and 
though he might differ from me, his courtesy 
removed all the sting of opposition. Every- 
body said, whether they liked Rich or not, " He 
is a sincere Christian." In fact, he always 
appeared to me more like a father than a com- 
panion, and I would rather have enjoyed break- 
ing him up, having an occasional fisticuff or 
wrestle ; but I never could effect that naughty 
object with Rich. His gentleness, his sweet- 
ness, his sincerity, his charming manners, all 



Memorial. 45 

combined to produce upon those who came in 
contact with him an ineffaceable impression of 
the strength of a chastened Christian spirit. 
His firmness, his manliness, his courage, his 
fortitude, and his persistent energy were as 
remarkable as his gentle nature ; and had he 
taken the warlike turn, I doubt if Joshua of old 
would not have been equaled by him in the 
leading of men and in the commanding; of 
armies. 

I have not been acquainted with the work 
of Mr. Rich's later years, but shall be happy 
indeed to see how those who are intimate with 
him all along, show the developments of time. 

Yes, you say truly, "the light has gone up 
higher," but its remembrance is still bright 
before my vision, though it is fifty years since 
it helped to lighten my path and brighten my 
environment. 

May the Lord comfort and bless you, whose 
life privileges have been so pleasant and so 
great in his companionship. 

Sincerely yours, 

Oliver Otis Howard. 



46 Thomas Hill Rich. 

President H. Q. Butterfield of Olivet Col- 
lege wrote of Professor Rich in 1893, on 
learning of his death : 

Dear Mrs. Rich : 

Your husband and I were born the same 
year, and he was just a month younger than I. 
.... He was one class in advance of me 
in Bangor Seminary. Though we were grad- 
uated at College the same year, our associations 
in the Seminary were not so intimate as those 
of classmates. Yet I knew him well and 
respected him highly. Though we met but 
infrequently, yet I have for years had in 
memory the outline of his character — the 
frame-work of that finished picture which your 
letter and Professor Chase's have so exquisitely 
painted. 

He was one, daily intercourse with whom 
would have been a daily delight to me. You 
are fortunate in having been the wife of such 
a man. The majority of husbands are not 
cast in a mold so fine. For a time you are 
to hear his musical voice only in memory ; but 
you are as sure to hear its real tones again as 
you are to hear the voice of Him who is the 
Resurrection and the Life. That wealth of 
Biblical learning has not perished. The ship 
has not been broken where two seas meet and 
the lading cast into the deep. The gathered 
treasures of his life are capital with which to 



Memorial. 47 

begin business in the life eternal. The knowl- 
edge and wisdom stored in College and Sem- 
inary are due preparation for the heavenly 
university. ... I doubt not your husband 
will still delight in his Hebrew. 



To know him a little was to know him 
much, — for such was the simplicity of his 
character and the unobtrusive constancy of 
his ministry in the world, the whole reality of 
his life seemed to find expression at every 
contact one was privileged to have with him, 

brief and incidental as it might be 

We shall not look upon his like again. So 
far as I know, the world does not hold another 
man whose qualities, make-up, and personal 
unity in any considerable degree resemble 
Professor Rich. As he was a peculiar gift of 
God, so I believe his vocation and ministry 
have found peculiar honor in the Kingdom of 

God. C. 

Portland. 



He was one of my first friends in Bow- 
doin College, though he was a Senior when I 
entered — Sophomore. The fact of my loneli- 
ness drew out his sympathies and 

he was very kind and helpful to me 

Our acquaintance soon ripened into friendship, 



48 Thomas Hill Rich. 

and that friendship has continued ever since. 

He was always a scholar, — a man 

of scrupulous fidelity in all his work, and of 
tender and kindly temper toward all around 
him. I have always esteemed him as a man 
of sincere and elevated piety, and that serene 
inner life showed itself outwardly in a consistent 
and conscientious walk before the world. . . . 
The sudden transfer from the earthly to the 
heavenly must have been to him such a glorious 
surprise — so magnificent, so blessed, so infi- 
nitely better than anything his imagination had 
ever dreamed ! 
Tacoma, Wash. 

(Extract from letter.) 



Fkom Rev. Heney Blodgett, 
Formerly Missionary in Pekin, China. 



I never knew a purer soul — a more blame- 
less soul, one who walked more closely with 
the Lord, who was more careful to keep a con- 
science void of offence toward God and toward 
man, one who had so great simplicity of heart 
and life, and who was so truly and entirely 
humble. My acquaintance with Mr. Rich 
commenced in Bangor Theological Seminary. 
I can never forget his bathing my head all 
night long with most loving care, at a time 
when I had a sharp attack of illness. 



Memorial. 49 

It was only during a part of one year that 
we were associated in the Seminary at Bangor, 
he having entered the Class of '49, while I 
left during the year 1850. 

In the Seminary, his singularly modest, 
diffident, and retiring disposition, combined 
with his careful and accurate scholarship, his 
simple and child-like piety, won for him the 
respect and affection of all 

In 1853 he taught in the East Maine 
Conference Seminary at Bucksport, Me., and 
roomed in the sightly hall which crowned the 
summit of Oak Hill. There I called upon him 
in his lovely retreat. He was cheerful and 
contented, and very much beloved by his 
pupils. "You would think," said he, "that 
the students would not obey me, that I could 
not maintain discipline in my classes. But 
in some way, I cannot tell how it is, at the 
least tap of my pencil upon the table they 
instantly give heed to my wishes." 

When I next met him he was Professor of 
Hebrew in the Theological Seminary in Lew- 
iston, Maine. The same qualities of diligent, 
conscientious scholarship, combined with his 
loving Christian character, greatly endeared 
him to his pupils here. He had found his 
home and his work. His classes loved and 
revered him. He had become united in mar- 
riage with one of congenial tastes and sympa- 

4 



50 Thomas Hill Rich. 

thies, and his daily life flowed on in a tranquil 
stream in love to God and service to his fellow- 
men 

There was in him a certain 

unworldliness of mind, and yet he gave careful 
attention to every duty. Pellucid in character 
and motives, he shrank from every approach 
of evil. His was a hidden life — "Hid with 
Christ in God." 

A book-mark lies in my Bible made in 
early years by his own handiwork. The motto 
inscribed upon it is, "No Cross on Earth, no 
Crown in Heaven." By this motto he lived. 
Yet his life was joyous, serene, and full of 
hope. 

One might say that an unloving word or a 
harsh criticism, whether spoken to or concern- 
ing another, never escaped his lips. The law 
of kindness was in his speech and deeds of 
kindness were wrought by his hands. In early 
life he had nursed a brother (with whose relig- 
ious sentiments he had no sympathy) with 
unwearied fidelity and tenderness through a 
protracted and painful illness, terminating 
fatally. Students and pupils shared the same 
watchful care. . . . The savor of his godly 
life remains and will remain in the hearts of 
all who knew him. 



Heney Blodgett. 



Memorial. 51 

I cannot claim to have had intimacy of 
friendship with Professor Rich, and our differ- 
ent lines of study did not enable me to appre- 
ciate at their true value his attainments in his 
own chosen field of labor. No one, however, 
could be admitted even to the outer circle of 
his friends without being impressed by the rare 
sweetness and unselfishness and spirituality of 
his nature; and no one could be, even for a 
little while, his pupil without recognizing the 
genuineness of his patient and thorough schol- 
arship. 

As a student in Bangor Theological Semi- 
nary I first came to know his patience and 
thoroughness as a teacher, and those qualities 
were always associated in my mind with the 
gentleness and courtesy of his intercourse, and 
the evident sincerity of his friendship. It was 
in Bangor, too, that I first saw and honored 
the breadth of his sympathy and generosity 
toward the poor and unfortunate. He gave 
freely of his means to relieve their wants and 
to alleviate their sufferings ; but, what was 
better than that, he gave no less freely of 
himself, of his warm sympathy, his personal 
ministrations, and his faith, to comfort and 
encourage them. 

He always seemed to me the most modest 
and unassuming of men, and yet he never 
shrank from what came to him as the call of 



52 Thomas Hill Rich. 

duty, or from what promised him the opportu- 
nity of helpfulness to others. His face was 
the sufficient pledge of the tenderness and 
purity of his heart, and what his face promised 
his heart and his hands were swift to fulfill. 

His modesty seemed to prevent him from 
publishing much of the results of his study and 
insight into the treasures of the Old Testament 
scriptures, but the few things that he published 
were ample evidence of the exactness of his 
learning, the carefulness of his methods, and 
the independence of his interpretation. 

The memory of his gentle and unselfish 
and consecrated life must be dear alike to his 
pupils and his friends, and an inspiration to 
similar unselfishness and consecration. 

Henry L. Chapman. 
Brunswick, Me. 



From California. 

. . . We were school-mates in the Bangor 
High School, preparing for college, and we 
had a boys' prayer-meeting of which he was 

the leader He has had a warm place 

in my memory ever since those college days. 
He studied the classics with patient enthusiasm, 
a precursor of what he achieved in later years. 
He would work over a translation — polish it, 



Memorial. 53 

perfect it — till he came fully to apprehend what 
translation meant, and could do that work con- 
fidently and effectively. It was interesting in 
Seminary days to see how what he acquired thus 
in College was brought to bear on his study of 
God's word. His enthusiasm grew. The new 
light on what was to him the dearest and best 
of all books rewarded him abundantly for all 
the toil of previous years. 

(Extract from letter of 1893.) 



We shall never forget those who have gone 
from our own homes and hearts, and we always 
love to review their lives. But with the many, 
they pass out of a living interest. I was always 
struck by Professor Rich's disinterested thought- 
fulness. His special ministrations seemed to 
grow out of his great tenderness for an in- 
valid mother, and began even in his boyhood ; 
and after she needed his care no longer, he 
seemed to be ever on the lookout for some 
opportunity to minister. He did not wait to 
hear about the needy ones ; he sought them 
out. He found a poor lame boy . . . who 
was unable to walk ; and for him he procured 
a chair, which enabled him to roll himself 
about. A lame deformed girl was clothed 



54 Thomas Hill Rich. 

almost by his benefactions ; and to all the sick 
and lonely on the "Hill" he was bringing, 
ever, something nice to read or some new diver- 
sion. I used to be reminded sometimes, by his 
great desire to serve in the "ministry of love," 
of some of Alice Gary's lines : 

Make me within the universal chain a link, whereby 
There shall have been accomplished some slight gain 
For men and women when I come to die. 

My acquaintance with Professor Rich began 
away back in our teens, when we were both in 
Bangor High School. Many a time the way 
through Cicero and the Greek was smoothed by 
his patient helpfulness. He was both a class- 
mate and room-mate of my brother William in 
Bowdoin, and was often at our house, and my 
mother was made very comfortable by his 
assurance that he would care for and comfort 
the little fellow . . . and I know he kept 
his promise well. 

I feel very familiar with those strong and 
beautiful characteristics which Professor Chase 
gave of him, and I could tell you by the hour 
how his thoughtful kindness beguiled many of 
my blind mother's dark hours. Many morn- 
ings of his busy student life he freely gave to 
her, reading to her aloud, often translating 
from the German some gem which he thought 
she would appreciate. 



Memorial. 55 

His tasteful rooms, his warm heart, and 
ready purse were always free for any child of 
sorrow or want, whatever their trouble might 
be. Poor students — students with families or 
in times of sickness, felt him a friend in need. 

Yours affectionately, 
Belfast. E. M. Pond. 

.... I had the most profound respect 
for his delicate, artistic nature, his pure life, 
his serene and affectionate disposition, and, in 
fact, for the entire personality which made him 
one by himself. It might be said of him 
during his whole life that "like a fragrance 
from beyond the Gates," his influence filled 
and enriched "every life which approached it." 
Of all men he seemed to me nearest per- 
fection of any I have seen, .... the friend 
and companion of my early youth — my school 
friend. P. 

Derry, N. H. 

Many young men have been influenced by 
him for good in their studies of the old Hebrew 
language. He was a great help to me in my 
years of student life. Much of my love for 

the languages came through him 

In the hours of sickness of our family he was 
a present help Emerich. 



56 Thomas Hill Rich. 

. . . . Now that he is dead I can only 
recall his kindness to me and the transparent 
whiteness of his love — the unassailable integ- 
rity of his character and the thoroughness of 
his scholarship. Professor Rich was among 
my earliest and warmest friends, and under- 
stood my work and motives where others were 
blindly ignorant. He gave me great encour- 
agement by word and deed, and his simple, 
manly, consecrated life, joined with an uplift- 
ing faith, opened my eyes to behold afresh the 
"beauty of holiness in Christian character." 

E. 



Your honored and beloved husband I knew 
but little, save as he was known and read of 
all men. He was but nine years old when I 
entered college. . . . Years after I used to 
see him occasionally at Mrs. Crosby's . . . 
and a few times at Lewiston. But his face 
and his life were "easy reading." His tran- 
quility and sweet modesty, his gentleness, his 
loving heart and enthusiastic scholarship, and 
love of good men and good things, that went 
with these, how manifest they were. 

Eev. A. C. A. 

1893. 



Memorial. 57 

Fkom a Student. 

The kindness of Professor Rich to me 
cannot be forgotten. His patience with and 
interest in each student that came under his 
care were manifest to all. In him the students 
of Cobb Divinity School lose a faithful friend 
and painstaking instructor, and heaven is 
richer by the advent of so sweet a spirit. 

N. K. S. 



Professor Rich breathed a fine atmosphere. 
I have seen him attempt to drive a nail, with 
sad disaster to thumb and fingers. He had 
little aptitude and small love for the mere 
mechanics of living. And yet with what rare 
skill could he, in friendly rivalry with the 
housekeeper, concoct "pop-overs" for a social 
tea or prepare a more delicate morsel to tempt 
an invalid appetite. 

Gentleness, sympathy, tact, were his pre- 
vailing characteristics. They marked him 
everywhere. Making friendships was not a 
pastime with him. One admitted to his friend- 
ship entered into a sacred relation. His soul 
clave to his friend. If the friend was busy, 
Professor Rich was considerate, never forget- 
ful. Continents and seas might intervene, yet 
the genial flow of loving thought and epistolary 



58 Thomas Hill Rich. 

confidences irrigated the friend's life. He re- 
membered his friend's anniversaries, his friend's 
experiences, his friend's foibles. He did not 
insist that his friend should conform to his 
ways. He took the friend as he was, and 
adapted himself to the friend. His self-sacri- 
ficing gentleness reminds me of Monseigneur 
Bienvenu, the good Bishop of D. in "Les 
Miserables." 

As he was loving, sympathetic, and tactful 
with his friends, so was he with Language. 
Language was his friend. He loved Lan- 
guage. He studied her moods, yielded him- 
self to her foibles, laid bare his soul to her 
secrets ; — he courted her like a lover. Who 
will forget his chaste and loving homage to her 
in his lecture on " Words ? " With what faith- 
ful solicitude he translated her subtle fancies 
from one tongue into another ! Though he 
spoke English and taught Hebrew, he was 
familiar with French and German and Latin 
and Greek, and was more than acquainted with 
Spanish and Italian. For his paraphrases of 
the Psalms he was wont to search for weeks to 
find the fitting phrase to express an idea, 
taking into account sound, sense, etymology, 
and association. Fine distinctions and schol- 
arly discriminations are found in his lines. 

In conversation a ready jeu d' 'esprit marked 
his thought. No pun was ever a barbarism on 



Memorial. 59 

his lips ; it was a work of art. Language, as 
he used it, brought light ; it was sunny. Simple 
and direct, it had the air of not going deeply, 
but it illumined, it gladdened, it inspired. 

As an instructor Professor Rich became 
more enthusiastic, as time passed. "I am 
better able to teach," he said with each suc- 
ceeding year. Not much ground, but all thor- 
oughly, sympathetically, tactfully, he covered ; 
that was his method. He did not follow ruts. 
He did not cling to old text-books, or bring 
antiquated, dog-eared manuscripts before his 
classes. So ardent was his love for Language 
that he studied her moods anew each mornino; 
and communed with her afresh each evening. 
Some new discovery, some small addition, 
always aroused his zeal, answered to his ambi- 
tion, and enriched his work. 

In rare earnestness and devotion did he 
perform all his tasks as a Christian scholar. 

Alfred Williams Anthony. 

Cobb Divinity School. 



From Rev. R. M. Cole. 

"The rig-hteous shall be in everlasting re- 

membrance." Professor Rich, of Cobb Divinity 

School in Lewiston, belonged to this class most 

assuredly, as all who knew him most unhesi- 



60 Thomas Hill Kich. 

tatingly testify. The writer came into acquaint- 
ance with him in Bangor Seminary during the 
spring of 1867. He was assisting Dr. Talcott 
in teaching the Hebrew (he was a native of 
Bangor) ; and . . . in a quiet, unassuming 
way, did not a little to comfort the poor, the 
infirm, the unfortunate, and aged of the place. 

I shall not soon forget the long walk we 
took together over west of the seminary, out 
into the suburbs, where he introduced me to 
one of his protSges, a poor hunchback girl in 
her teens. It was a very destitute family, as 

all the environments went to show 

If he helped them in charitable ways, he also 
tried to furnish wood-sawing to the father, or 
other work to the mother, so they might work 
out a livelihood, and not become parasites on 
charity. 

As an elder brother, but with a sympathy 
and interest as keen as a woman's, he was 
helpful to many a student, very considerately 
making such suggestions from time to time as 
would be of advantage to them in the future. 

He arranged for meetings here and there in 
town, often taking along some of us students 
to speak. At other times we were invited 
to accompany him to relieve the monotony 
of life's declining years (in some suburban 
home) . 

He took much interest in sending out the 



Memorial. 61 

"boys" for their future work, especially those 
who went far hence to the Grentiles. 

Not a few choice keepsakes would he put 
into their hands, backing them up with his 
blessing and prayers, together with pledges of 
epistolary remembrance. For years he gave 
us the comfort of his full, familiar letters. 
The last time I met the good man was in 1875, 
and he surprised me by a brief visit among the 
granite hills of my native State, while we were 
in the country. Previous to this visit from 
him he had invited and paid the expenses of 
the missionary, on from Boston to his own 
home in Lewiston. 

Bitlis, Kourdistan, Turkey in Asia. 



How gentle and true he always was ! And 
what a radiant benediction his presence always 
left upon one's mind ! 

I have never known just such a rare com- 
bination of gentle courtesy and transparent 
genuineness of character, with such real schol- 
arly strength. 



F. E. Clark, 

President of United Society of 
Christian Endeavor. 



62 Thomas Hill Rich. 



Professor Rich was one of our oldest and 
best-beloved friends, and although we had not 
seen him for so many years, the world was 
brighter to us in the knowledge of his life and 
work. 

Dresden, Germany. 



He lived a life so beautiful, so rounded in 
completeness ; he was so happy in doing his 
Master's work on earth ! I think of him in 
the " house beautiful " with the dear ones gone 
on before 

. . . . The encouraging word, the gentle 
courtliness of his presence, the pure spirit of 
thought and deed, fall upon me, even now, 
like a benediction. 

In his last visit to me (I was ill at the 
time) he said, when leaving, "The dear Father 
knows all our pain and sorrow ; lean hard 
upon Him ; He will sustain and comfort you." 

G. W. 



Memorial. 63 

A gentle spirit ; a nature fluent yet of good 
substance, like mercury ; capable of spiritual 
affinities chemical in their intimacy, and none 
the less indissoluble because free from violence 
in the making ; a man of so single a mind that 
when he was once understood one could never 
have any doubts about him ; a wholesome influ- 
ence in life, and a man whose friendship it is 
pleasant to remember. So Professor Rich 
appears to me as I think back gratefully to the 
days when it was my privilege to know him. 
There is no stain on the memory he leaves 
behind him. He was a clean, good man. 

George Herbert Stockbridge. 



Of all the jewels of God's crown Thomas 
Hill Rich must shine among those preeminent 
for clearness and purity. 

Georgia Drew Merrill. 

May 14, 1896. 



It is not the labor of love but the privilege 
of love to offer this brief tribute to the memory 
of Thomas Hill Rich. Even as I write, after 
the lapse of years, his unique and charming 
personality stands out before me, clear-cut as 
a cameo, and as strongly impressed upon the 
unfailing inner consciousness of an affectionate 



64 Thomas Hill Rich. 

remembrance as natural objects are photo- 
graphed upon the retina of the vision. It was 
not so much one single trait that drew men to 
him. It was rather a union of qualities of 
mind, heart, and soul, in harmonious blending, 
that elicited the profound respect of those that 
knew him most intimately. " r Worthy to bear, 
without reproach, the grand old name of gen- 
tleman," he conferred upon the title additional 
grace by his most sincere and consistent Chris- 
tian life. I shall never forget how hospitable 
and kind he was to me, a stranger, when I 
first assumed the pastorate of the High Street 
Congregational Church, Auburn. In the early 
spring, before the chill had passed from the 
air, even before the last belated snow-flakes 
had ceased to whiten the earth, I turned my 
face northward to the somewhat frigid welcome 
of the Pine Tree State. But in the heart of 
Professor Rich, and in the hearts of other 
friends in the parish, I found compensating 
warmth and shelter. My first evening in his 
home, how well I remember it ! The beaming 
face at the door ; the high, innate purity of 
soul shining through the fleshly raiment of his 
finely-chiseled features ; the fire of crackling 
logs upon the hearth-stone, a musical explosive 
which served but to accentuate the gentle 
murmur of conversation on men and books 
and studies ; the delightful sense of perfectly 



Memorial. 65 

assured good-will and sympathy for the pilgrim 
about to meet the inevitable difficulties of a new 
and untried field ; the dainty, restful chamber, 
with skillful, housewifely touches, where I slept 
at peace with all the world — how that evening 
comes back to me as a fragrant memory now 
that years of perplexity and struggle in the 
advocacy of unpopular causes are merged in the 
waters of a wider and maturer experience ! 

And what my honored friend was at the 
beginning he continued to be to the very end, 
a firm, loyal, and consistent supporter of his 
pastor. Trained in the older theology, per- 
haps conservative by nature, and yet open to 
fresh light and truth, it followed, of necessity, 
that my views of religious doctrine were not 
always the opinions cherished by Professor 
Rich. But I cannot recall that we ever clashed 
for a single moment on points of doctrine or 
that the widest dogmatic diver o;ence ever threw 
the least shadow upon our friendship. Through 
all — whatever may have been his personal 
belief — his lofty sense of loyalty to the min- 
ister of his choice held his tongue from acrid 
criticism and maintained his heart in affection- 
ate allegiance. More than this, he appeared 
intuitively to recognize the right of the pulpit 
to absolute freedom in the discussion of all 
living questions, although, personally, I think 
Professor Rich, with his singularly scholarly 



66 Thomas Hill Rich. 

instinct, did not much care for the presentation 
of topics outside the range of purely Biblical 
questions. In the best sense of the phrase he 
was a specialist in scholarship, and the accuracy 
of his mental processes I have seldom found 
surpassed among students of my acquaintance. 
And yet, along with this quality, that shrinks 
from slovenly work even as a thorough musi- 
cian shrinks from false notes in orchestral com- 
binations, — along with this quality Professor 
Rich showed wonderful considerateness toward 
pupils of natural dulness and incapacity. I 
remember being present at a class-room exer- 
cise in Hebrew where one or two young men 
made sad work of the construction in translat- 
ing from the Prophets. I could see that Profes- 
sor Rich was greatly put out by the exhibition. 
Those who knew him well will recollect a 
peculiar wrinkling of the lines of the forehead, 
a certain " I don't like that at all " expression 
whenever he was disturbed or annoyed. At 
the time mentioned the wrinkle was fully in 
evidence. Bat his manner toward the offend- 
ers was the very epitome of courtesy. " Surely, 
Mr. X, you do not mean this ! " "Wouldn't 
you say rather that the verb is made from the 
root Z ? " " Doubtless you intend a paraphrase 
of the lines in place of a literal rendering ! " 
And thus, with infinite pains and unfailing 
helpfulness toward his pupils, the product of 



Memorial. 67 

his own perfect breeding, the instructor virtu- 
ally carried them through the hour and unrav- 
eled with luminous insight the intricacies of 
that tongue of which he was so admirable a 
master. 

I wish I might speak more at length of the 
personal characteristics of my friend whose 
attitude toward me, his pastor, was the very 
embodiment of that sweet fraternity which 
ought ever to signalize the relations between a 
minister and his flock. Were I asked to name, 
in a sentence, the chief element in his nature 
which appealed most strenuously to his friends, 
I should say it was his unvarying habit of 
speaking kind words and doing kind deeds. 
If Professor Rich had criticisms to propose — 
and he was by no means lacking in the critical 
faculty — they were presented in a form abso- 
lutely incapable of offending the most sensitive 
spirit, and supported by cogent if not always 
convincing reasons. Easier for him, by far, 
to praise judiciously than to blame captiously. 
Indeed, the very gentleness of his nature for- 
bade that occasional harshness of which impul- 
sive but royally endowed men are sometimes 
guilty. He cherished the spirit of Sir Henry 
Sidney's maxim, "A wound given by a word 
is harder to heal than a wound given by the 
sword.'' Nor was it a gentleness unveined by 
the more rugged quality of firmness. Beneath 



68 Thomas Hill Rich. 

the calm, quiet exterior there lurked indomit- 
able perseverance, and also a certain vise-like 
tenacity of will. I may illustrate by an ex- 
ample. When the Rev. A. P. Tinker died, 
who for ten years was pastor of the High 
Street Church, commemorative memorial serv- 
ices were held in the church. Professor Rich 
was one of the speakers. Either through 
embarrassment, for I believe he never con- 
quered a certain nervous timidity when facing 
an audience, or from lapse of memory, the 
substance of his address eluded forms of expres- 
sion. Yet there he stood, unwilling to give 
up, waiting through long pauses for words and 
facts that obstinately halted, and still main- 
taining his position on the platform until the 
major portion of what he had to utter found 
deliverance. What he must do he would, 
and I am of the opinion that fire and water 
could not keep this outwardly shy, unobtrusive 
man from the achievement of his deep-lying 
purpose. 

Of his rank in technical scholarship others 
are more competent to speak. Professor Fisher 
of Yale once said to us in the class-room : 
"The first mark of a scholar is accuracy." 
With accuracy of method which would satisfy 
the most imperative requirements of scholar- 
ship Professor Rich joined that unflagging 
industry whose results are disclosed in the 



Memorial. 69 

thoroughness with which he mastered the crit- 
ical details of Old Testament language and 
literature. I believe that phenomenal thor- 
oughness is the prime cause of his failure 
oftener to publish. He would bring no other 
oil than " beaten oil " into the illuminating 
processes of his printed work. What he was 
to Bates College, to the twin cities, to the 
intellectual life of the community in which he 
lived and toiled, to his wife, his friends, his 
colleagues in education, is reserved for other 
pens to describe. My privilege has been to 
write of Thomas Hill Rich as I knew him 
personally and intimately in the pastoral rela- 
tion — a privilege but poorly embraced amid 
the hurry and distraction of last days of prepa- 
ration for summer flight to the sea-shore. His 
life followed the peaceful tenor of the scholar's 
work and mission, and ripened and mellowed 
with gathering years. Death came, not as a 
shock but as a fruition, and in the "sounding 
labor-house vast, of Being," to employ Matthew 
Arnold's felicitous metaphor, his soul to-day 
doubtless finds the sphere of usefulness reserved 
for self-forgetful men and women whose earthly 
consummation is but an epoch in the infinite 
service of humanity. 

Frederick Stanley Root. 



70 Thomas Hill Rich. 

"Love is the Fulfillment of the Law." 

Oh, not in vain we live, if lives are made, 
By our life's living, purer, unafraid 
Of right, attuned to brave, unselfish deeds, 
And brought to love the Giver of all creeds. 

The one our halting pen would honor, but shrinks 

back 
From inability to move along the track 
He ever traveled — lived — on heights not often trod — 
The fresh, green hills before the throne of God. 

His love to parents, friends, students, and all 

Who in his charmed circle chanced to fall — 

So close to God he lived that child-like trust 

And winsome sweetness forth like fountains gushed 

From all his words and deeds. While warmth, and 

light 
And Poesy, and all things fair and bright, 
From childhood kept him far from other men, 
Whose lower levels knew not of his ken. 

W. A. Furgusson. 
May 14, 1896. 



[From Class Reunion Report, June 21, 1893.] 
In the gymnasium, Wednesday evening, 
June 21, at six o'clock, were gathered around 
the table, Eastman, Humphrey, S. F., New- 
comb, Rich, Sewall, Smythe, Stevens, Dins- 
more. Old fellows we all were, every one 
having passed the three-score limit ; but now 
were boys again. 

No one had much to relate of the past five 



Memorial. 71 

years' experience, life having moved on in the 
same line much as during the previous five 
years. Rich is Professor of Hebrew at Bates 
College Divinity School. No one appeared 
more likely to continue in health and vigor, 
and be among those who should meet at the 
fiftieth anniversary, than Rich ; but it seems 
that he was to be the first to fall out from our 
remaining number. On the 6th of July, only 
fifteen days afterwards, he died suddenly in 
Lewiston. Thus ended a remarkably pure, 
earnest, and studious Christian life. He was 
in his seventy-first year. Dinsmore writes : 
"How much he enjoyed being there (at the 
reunion) , and how well he seemed at the time ; 
and yet, in two weeks, was called to leave his 
beautiful home on earth to Mansions above, 
passing away without a pain or groan — a beau- 
tiful translation — just as he had desired to leave 
this world." 

He had filled the professorship at Lewiston 
twenty-one years, and was revered and greatly 
beloved by all his students and a large circle of 
friends. His gentle, self-sacrificing, and labo- 
rious student life we all remember, and the 
same characteristics remained with him to the 
end, and made his life fruitful in the welfare 
and happiness of others, and the attainment of 
scholarly honors to himself. He published four 
translations from the Hebrew, which estab- 



72 Thomas Hill Rich. 

lished his reputation as a Hebrew scholar ; and 
was busy the last day of his life in a revision 
of a version of Habakkuk, which he was to 
give as a Bible reading at the approaching 
meeting of the Chautauquan Assembly, at Frye- 
burg. He was also a frequent contributor of 
articles to biblical periodicals, and was a mem- 
ber of the American Oriental Society, the 
Genealogical Society of Maine, the Maine 
Historical Society, and the Society of Biblical 
Literature and Exegesis. 



The intense sacredness with which Profes- 
sor Rich invested his work in translating the 
Bible shines out in every line he wrote. How 
naturally his large faith in God found expres- 
sion in his reverent rendering of the Messianic 
Psalms. Perhaps the most remarkable feature 
of his gifts was their complete symmetry. 



One thread runs through all his life, and 
this is, his love for his fellow-men, and his 
never-ceasing endeavors to lead them to nobility 
of life. 



Memorial. 73 

From a College Mate. 

• ••••• 

When I first met Mr. Rich I was impressed 
with his personality. What a remarkable face 
he had — a broad mouth, a closely-shaven chin, 
a broad, high forehead, arched with a heavy 
brow, and underneath, large, clear blue eyes, 
with an expression of consciousness of respon- 
sibility 



[Found in the scrap-book of Professor Rich.] 
Over the Silent Sea. 
Over the Silent Sea 
Dear ones awaiting me 
On the fair shore beyond — in heaven's rest. 
No failing footsteps there ; 
Life — one triumphant prayer — 
Home of Love " over there" — 
Home of the blest ! 

Over the Silent Sea 

Dear ones are beck'ning me. 

Oft in my dreams I hear songs of delight ; 

Sometimes the starry skies 

Seem to my earth-born eyes 

Opening to Paradise — 

Through gateway bright. 

— C. W. D. R. 

April 3, 1893. 



LESSONS IN WORDS. 



As there are lessons in stones and shells, 
in trees and plants ; so there are lessons in 
words ; and the lessons in the latter are no 
less worthy of our study than the lessons in 
the former ; for nature and language are both 
divine. 

Words stand for ideas ; and there is noth- 
ing which more than our ideas influences our 
actions ; and in our actions day by day con- 
sists our practice. 

Since words affect our practice, since they 
are a part of our practice, and may be so 
useful — a word spoken in season, how good it 
is ! — since words have so much to do with our 
practice, a talk about certain of them may not 
be unpractical. 

As character is a matter that deeply con- 
cerns us, that is of prime importance, let us 
take that word first, and seek for the idea that 
lies behind it. We shall find that this word 
comes from the Greek JapaxrTjp — indeed it is 
the Greek word itself with English spell- 
ing. Xapaxryp signifies that which is stamped 
or engraven on anything — as the figures on 
coins and seals : and so we use character to 



Memorial. 75 

designate the qualities of a man impressed 
upon him by nature or habit. 

Originally all the qualities of man must 
have been amiable and excellent ; for God 
made man in his own likeness. This likeness, 
if now marred and defaced, is not obliterated ; 
but is still capable of renovation. Each pure 
thought, each high resolve, each noble act, 
tends to the restoration of the divine linea- 
ments ; and repetition of such thought, such 
resolve, such act, makes those lineaments 
more manifest. 

In the epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 1:3, 
the Authorized Version says that Christ is 
the express image of God's person ; but the 
Revision that Christ is the very image of His 
(i.e., God's) substance, while in the margin 
the Revision has : " The impress of His sub- 
stance." This last is truest to the original ; 
for there we find this very word Xapaxr-qp. If 
then the image of God is impressed, engraven, 
charactered on Christ, and we copy and imitate 
Christ, we shall win back to ourselves the 
traits that marked man before he had fallen 
from his first estate. 

It is written that God is kind to the un- 
thankful and evil, and that in this we should 
be like Him. God is essentially kind ; we 
are bidden to become so — to acquire this trait 
— so the New Testament teaches. It teaches, 



76 Thomas Hill Rich. 

too, that this kindness is not one of word 
alone, but also of deed — a kindness that for- 
gives, is serviceable, and serves ; and becomes 
a servant for Christ's sake. Our word kind 
is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and only a contrac- 
tion of Icinned ; which suggests that we should 
be kind to all, because we are akin to all — 
because all men are our kindred, and kinship 
justly claims kindness. Hamlet says of his 
uncle and step-father, that he is "a little more 
than kin, and less than kind," because, in 
marrying Hamlet's mother, he was somewhat 
more than a blood relation, and at the same 
time had shown himself unworthy of our race 
— our kind. 

Formerly they resented kindnesses ; for to 
resent is, literally, to feel back, that is, to 
recognize, to be sensible of. And should we 
not be as sensible of benefits as of injuries ? 

Formerly, too, they could retaliate kind- 
nesses : for to retaliate is to render like for 
like ; and so an author of the seventeenth 
century writes : " God takes what is done to 
others as done to Himself, and by promise 
obliges Himself to full retaliation." 

We read that it is a very good, and a very 
pleasant thing for brethren, that is, kindred, 
to dwell together in unity. We can see that 
this should be so, for all agree that man is a 
social being — a being formed for society. For 



Memorial. 77 

this reason we should be sociable, not stand- 
ing aloof from our fellow-men, not taciturn 
and reserved ; but approachable, and likewise 
worthy of association. 

And here let me remind you that the termi- 
nations able and ible, which we borrow from 
the Latin, denote capability or worthiness. 

So the word agreeable signifies a capability 
of agreeing or a readiness to agree ; which 
signification it might be well to keep in mind 
if we desire to be agreeable ; for if we forever 
set ourselves in opposition to what others do 
and say we are dis-agreeable, and cannot 
expect to be much sought after. 

But a readiness to accord with the views of 
others, a responsiveness to what they propose, 
makes companionship easy and often delight- 
ful. There are, indeed, those ready to assent 
to everything we say. The German styles 
such persons, *'ja herren" i. e., "the yes men." 
Such persons are too agreeable to be so in the 
accepted sense of the word ; for we need 
variety to spice our intercourse, and there is 
great profit in discussion that shakes apart, 
that sifts questions and gives to us the different 
sides. 

With sociability and agreeableness, con- 
versation is closely joined. Coming from the 
Latin, this word tells of turning round, of 
whirling round, of the revolution of the 



78 Thomas Hill Rich. 

months, of repetition, of interchange and famil- 
iarity. Thus the word conversation could set 
forth man's life, which is a busy round, oft 
repeated, and closely associated with his fel- 
lows. But, as this round is sometimes well and 
sometimes ill performed, this word was there- 
fore applied to one's conduct, to his behavior. 
Such is the sense of the word in King James's 
Bible. But now, as you know, the word 
conversation is limited to discourse, to the 
interchange of sentiments, to the giving and 
taking of the same mutually. Conversation, 
therefore, is a thing of continuity, not broken 
like mere talk, and, as the corresponding 
Greek term dvaarpocpij suggests, should have 
an upward turn, an improving tendency. 

The ready flow of conversation is checked 
by the presumptuous man, who hastens to 
claim precedence — often won by modest wait- 
ing; — who would take the highest seat before 
bidden to go up thither. The arrogant man 
still more retards conversation by constantly 
demanding that his importance shall be ac- 
knowledged. The insolent quite interrupts 
conversation by his unusual behavior, by his 
violation, his contempt of established rules, 
whereby he declares his bloated pride and 
unbridled passion. When we transgress laws 
established by God or by common consent of 
mankind, we enter the sphere of wrong ; we 



Memorial. 79 

have suffered ourselves to be twisted off, to be 
wrung off, from adherence to rectitude ; we 
have acquired guilt, that is, we have allowed 
a tempter to guile us away from the sole right 
path. 

He who habitually treads the right path is 
righteous, — rightwise, as our old authors used 
to say. As "otherwise" is other way, and 
"likewise" is like way, so "rightwise" is right 
way, and the righteous man is therefore the 
right way man — the man whose life is marked 
by rightwayness, or as we now say by right- 
eousness. Righteousness refers especially to 
right relations with our fellow-men. The man 
in right relations with God, according to the 
originals of Scripture, is the one set apart for 
God's service — ...... Greek ayuoq ; 

and later to express the joy of that service 
the consecrated person was also called the 
friend, the pious worshiper of God — .... 

Greek 6<rws. The psalmist in Ps. 86 : 2 prays 
that he may be preserved, because he is a 
pious worshiper of God ; and in Psalm 16 : 10 
we might translate : " Thou wilt not suffer 
thy pious worshiper to see the pit." Such 
an one, walking with God, might well be 
expected to be right and blessed in every 
regard. With this thought, it may be, the 
Anglo-Saxon calls him a holy man, that is a 
whole man. It is in accord with this that 



80 Thomas Hill Rich. 

James speaks of the "entire man" — lacking 
in nothing. The Greek 6X6xXrjpoi of James 
was applied to the Jewish priests, who were to 
be entire in all their members. And now the 
Christian, who is a spiritual priest, should 
have no moral deformity, should lack no God- 
like trait. But, as it is not enough that the 
body should be without blemish and defect, but 
should have some fulness of development ; so 
James would have his brethren not only entire, 
but also perfect, finished, full-grown men. 

We speak of the perfect gentleman, and 
of finished manners ; and yet without any 
thought that in such case there can be no 
more refining. In this same limited sense we 
are often to understand the perfection that the 
Bible enjoins. It calls us to what is attain- 
able — to character, finished, complete, well- 
rounded out. Yet the completest character 
will still admit of growth ; for what is in no 
way defective can still receive augmentation. 
The perfect child Jesus grew in wisdom and 
stature, and in favor with God and man. 
Jesus had favor with God because he did the 
things pleasing in God's sight. His prayers 
had acceptance, were granted — "in that he 
feared," as we read in the Authorized Version, 
which has in the margin "for his piety," that 
is, "for his godly fear," which last the Revis- 
ion gives. This fear is not the fear of terror, 



Memorial. 81 

but of caution, modesty, reverence. The 
figure underlying its Greek original ebXdfista is 
that of one who lays hold of anything well, 
i.e., carefully, so as not to break or injure it; 
of one who proceeds cautiously in his design, 
so as to avoid injury to himself or others. 
The rendering of this passage (Heb. 5:7) by 
the Revision brings it into harmony with Heb. 
12 : 28, the only other passage where the noun 
euXdfteia occurs, which reads: "Let us have 
grace, that we may serve God with rever- 
ence and godly fear." Thus Christians are 
exhorted to have the same reverent regard to 
God's will that Christ had, shown in his 
words, "Thy will, not mine, be done," in his 
constant humbling of himself in comparison 
with the Father, and in his exalting of the 
Father in word and deed, of which Christ's 
life was full. Here we find the true idea of 
worship. It is to declare with the mouth and 
heart God's worth, to acknowledge that He is 
worthy to receive the glory and the honor and 
the power, and to submit ourselves to God's 
worthy rule. We may show regard to worth 
in man, and in a sense may worship him. 
This is recognized in the corresponding Greek 
and Hebrew terms. The Hebrew says that 
Joseph's brethren worshiped him when they 
were' in Egypt to buy corn; and that the 
Amalekites worshiped David (2 Sam. 1:2), 



82 Thomas Hill Rich. 

and the woman of Jekoa and Bathsheba did 
the same ; and there were those who drew 
nigh to worship Absalom, and the princes of 
Judah worshiped King Joash ; although in 
all these cases "did obeisance" stands in our 
translations. In doing obeisance, in worship- 
ing, the Oriental bows his face to the ground, 
as much as to say, as we do in words : :t Your 
most obedient servant." 

Homage has relationship to the Latin homo, 
and in feudal times described the act of the 
feudal tenant, when on being invested with a 
fief he promised upon his knees, in presence of 
his new lord, fealty to him — promised to be 
his vassal, his hommage ; that is, his man. 
We justly pay hommage to men of pre-emi- 
nent usefulness and virtue, and do well to 
profess fealty to their principles. We do 
hommage to the Supreme Being when we give 
him our reverence and our devout affection. 

But to return to the thought of sbkd^sia. 
God has committed to each of us a work which 
we are to undertake with carefulness and con- 
duct with cautiousness, lest we make it a broken 
and a worthless thing. Simeon did this with 
the work committed to him, for Luke applies 
to him the adjective euXafiyjq, one in origin with 
the noun euXdfteca. This adjective is also given 
to the men dwelling at Jerusalem on the day 
of Pentecost ; gathered there, as it reads, from 



Memorial. 83 

ever j nation under Heaven. Their regard for 
God's service may have led them thither, but 
the fact of their being there is the rather men- 
tioned to show that the wonders of Pentecost 
were witnessed by men of carefulness, of 
weight of character, and not to be deceived by 
false appearances. The same epithet, ebXaPrjq, 
is applied to the men who dared to carry 
Stephen to burial and to make great lamenta- 
tion over him, — probably not Christian breth- 
ren, but Jews, whose reverence for God and 
His commands made them abhor the bloody 
deed. 

Having dwelt so long on the carefulness of 
godly fear, it will not be amiss to say that 
what is done in a hurry is not likely to be well 
done ; for, according to its derivation, hurry 
is the feeling that plunderers have, both when 
they are plundering and when they flee. 

Haste, like hurry, is eager to accomplish ; 
but is without confusion and without trepidation. 
But while one may hasten to finish a worthy 
work, he can afford to give it time, to stay by 
it until it is well done . If it is a work of mag- 
nitude it is likely that hardships will have to 
be borne, rebuffs will have to be resisted, and 
difficulties will have to be overcome before the 
work is achieved. All this requires endurance, 
persistence, perseverance ; and all these are 
implied in the Greek unepievrj , which is literally 



84 Thomas Hill Rich. 

the biding under ; whose thought is expressed 
in Shakespeare's 

"poor wretches 
That bide the pelting of the pitiless storm ; " 

and in Bunyan's man of stout heart, who cut 
his way through the armed men " to the stately 
palace, beautiful to behold." It was illus- 
trated in the case of Job, upon whom came 
down so many evils, and whose bearing under 
them James describes by this very word, which 
we there find translated patience. Alford 
renders it endurance, perhaps with some gain. 
Such is the patience whose perfect work makes 
the finished and the entire character, — which 
we well know is not wrought out in a day. 

The Latin coquo tells both of food pre- 
pared by fire and of fruit ripened by the sun. 
Prefixing the Latin particle prae, the com- 
pound should tell us of food too soon cooked, 
of fruit too soon ripened. This compound 
gives us our word precocious, the too soon 
matured, the too soon cooked ; which class of 
things and men lack the excellence that time 
and patience bring. 

From the Latin patror (signifying to suf- 
fer), the root of patience, we also get passive, 
which denotes that which is acted upon, as 
one who undergoes medical or surgical treat- 
ment. Such an one is called a patient. When 



Memorial. 85 

the soul is acted upon it has passion, and when 
the soul gives way to the passion of anger, 
the strong man, armed no longer, keeps his 
palace, but a stronger than he has come in 
upon him and overcome him. The soul has 
for the time surrendered its better self. The 
passion of Christ was the suffering which He 
underwent in His trial, His crucifixion, and 
His death. 

The men spoken of above, who were so 
careful to please God, might be called accurate 
men, that is, men doing all in accordance with 
care. The Latin cur a, embraced in the word 
accurate, is essentially our word care, and fig- 
ures largely in English. The fisherman, with 
certain care-taking, preserves, cures his fish. 
The physician, by careful use of remedies, 
restores to health, cures his patient. The 
clergyman directs his care to the spiritual 
needs of men, and his work is sometimes 
called the cure of souls ; and therefore all 
clergymen were once called curates. The 
office of a curate is a curacy. The curious 
person is one full of care, — it may be about 
his apparel, and then he is one fastidious in 
that respect. Or it may be that he is curious 
in his demands upon others, and then he is 
exacting and hard to please. Or all his care 
may be directed to learning, and then he is 
inquisitive and given to research ; but if all 



86 Thomas Hill Rich. 

his care is exercised about the concerns of 
others, the curious man is a prying person, 
meddler in other men's matters. A curious 
thing is one upon which many cares have been 
bestowed, — as the rare painting, the rare piece 
of statuary, the choice embroidery, the elegant 
piece of furniture — -all objects in art and nature 
which invite careful attention are curious things, 
and those who give such attention have curi- 
osity, and the things that receive it are 
curiosities. 

In one denomination clergymen are said to 
care for the souls in their cure or curacy ; in 
another they labor for them in their charge. 
Charge, coming from the French charger, to 
load or lade, to lay a burden upon, is also 
found in many connections. We load a gun 
and it is charged ; a business matter is put 
into one's hands and he is charged with it, 
though the burden may be very light. The 
loaded vessel has a cargo, a form of charge 
which comes to us from the Spanish ; in which 
language both the loader of cannons and the 
loader of vessels is called a cargador. By 
imitation of this form, it may be that we get 
our word stevedor, i.e., stow-vedor. 

A large dish, such as once bore a monstrous 
burden to Herodias, was formerly called a 
charger ; a name also given to the horse, that 



Memorial. 87 

bears to battle the burden of a warrior's weight, 
as in Campbell's familiar stanza : 

"By torch and trumpet fast arrayed, 
Each horseman drew his battle blade ; 
And fiercely every charger neighed 
To join the dreadful revelry." 

When solemn instructions are given to one 
entering upon the pastor's work, these as it 
were are a burden, a charge, which he is to 
take up and bear. A like burden is put upon 
the people now to become his flock. When 
crime is imputed to one, he is charged with it. 
When we magnify one's foibles and peculiari- 
ties, and in a sort, overload him, and put an 
undue burden upon him, we caricature him — a 
form of the word charge, derived from the 
Italian. 

The accurate men of Acts, who dared to 
bury Stephen, in spite of the infuriated mob, 
may after all not have been courageous men, 
men of heart, for that is the meaning of 
courage, which comes from the Latin cor, or 
rather from the French cceur. Richard coeur- 
de-lion, lion-hearted, received this epithet, be- 
cause abundantly endowed with animal courage. 
Courage is constitutional. But noble souls, 
even if not courageous, still prompted by worthy 
motives, do daring deeds, and are brave. In 
our late war a man of dauntless nature jeered 
his friend who had turned pale in the battle. 



88 Thomas Hill Rich. 

The friend replied : " If you had been so fright- 
ened as I, you would have fled from the fight." 
The one had courage, the other had principle, 
which prevailed over fear, and made him do 
bravely. Great Heart did not quail before 
giant Grim and the lions ; and bade Christiana 
and Mercy and Christiana's boys follow him, 
and they did so; "but," says Bunyan, "the 
women trembled, and the boys looked as if 
they would die." 

The Bible does not say that Moses was 
courageous, but perhaps intimates that he was 
not so. But Moses had respect unto the rec- 
ompense of reward, and endured as seeing 
Him, who is invisible ; and so he was faithful 
in all God's house, in all the great work that 
God laid upon him. 

Men of crooked ways, and unfaithful to 
trusts, are so because they do not realize God's 
presence. George Herbert says: "Do all 
things like a man — not sneakingly. Think 
that the king sees thee ; for his King does." 

Bravery is thought of in the word virtue, 
which comes from the Latin vir, a man ; not 
only a human being, but a man, adorned with 
noble qualities. Certain plants are said to have 
virtue, because they have power to counteract 
disease. Virtue went forth from the person of 
Jesus, that is, power to heal. Applied to 
character, virtue is moral excellence, which 



Memorial. 89 

can only be won, and kept, by valor, energy, 
and constancy. Virtue is ever in need of 
heavenly aid, for 

"Unless above himself he can 
Erect himself, how poor a thing is man ! " 

Sincerity belongs to moral excellence. Some 
have thought that the word sincere comes from 
the Latin words sine cera, which tell of honey 
without wax — pure honey. This derivation 
is not secure. But there is no doubt about 
eUtxpivrjq, which sincere represents in Philip- 
pians 1 : 10. 2\Xuptvr)<; is : sun-judged. It 
teaches us that as we take a fabric to the sun- 
light to prove its texture, so our truth, our 
inward life, should be able to bear the testing 
of the brightest day. 

To virtue, to moral excellence, we may 
well add charity. This word comes from the 
Greek /apis, which is one with the Latin 
gratia, from which we get our word grace. 
While /a^<r gives us our word charity and 
often occurs in the New Testament, still it is 
never translated by charity. We do indeed 
find charity twenty times in the Authorized 
Version, but it stands for the Greek dvanrj, 
which the Revision more fitly represents by 
love ; for charity is rather the manifestation of 
love than love itself. When love seeks not 
its own, when it is kind, and confers benefits, 
it becomes charity. Charity favorably inter- 



90 Thomas Hill Rich. 

prets the words and the deeds of others, and 
aids them in their distresses. Of course charity 
begins in our homes. But if it has a true 
fountain in our home, there will be sure to 
flow from it streams, that will gladden multi- 
tudes, besides our own. God's pitying love 
led him to give his only Son for the world's 
salvation, and there is seen his favor to our 
race, that merited no favor ; his charity, so 
to speak, his grace, which the Bible every- 
where proclaims. 

One has grace of manner, when his man- 
ners please and are looked upon favorably. 
In the religious use of the word one has grace 
when he has the favor of God, which should 
be manifest by his words and acts. We can- 
not always "resist the indignities of age," 
and shall have at length to give up the fresh- 
ness and sprightliness of youth ; but still we 
may grow old gracefully ; may still be rich in 
the favorable regards of those about us, if 
only we possess a disposition full of sweetness ; 
which we shall best secure by growing in the 
grace, i.e., the favor, of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In repeated passages of the Bible we read 
that God is merciful and gracious. If in these 
passages we might have read, "God is merci- 
ful and graceful," i.e., full of mercy and full of 
grace, the passages would have been more sym- 
metrical. Here at least we might have given 



Memorial. 91 

to the termination ful all its force, for the 
originals are what are called intensitives, words 
laden with the meaning of their root word. 
The translators, having to give up "graceful" 
because of the lower verb, did well to take 
"gracious," for that means abundant in grace. 

Thus our God is a God of all grace, and 
we His children should be full of all goodness. 
Attaining somewhat of such excellence, we 
might then deserve to be classed among the 
best of men, and so could be called classic, 
for only that which is of the first class is so 
styled. 

Every man must stand somewhere among 
his fellows, and so has rank ; but rank is only 
attributed to those who have eminent position. 
Goodness should, and often does, bring one to 
the front, and so should confer rank. At any 
rate the good are God's noblemen. 

"Life is a business ; not good cheer ; 
Ever in wars." 

But business has its relaxations, and in 
warfare the soldier is not always in the conflict 
of battle. So at times we may be diverted 
from severer pursuits, may seek diversion ; at 
intervals may seek entertainment ; when we 
are weary and vigor is impaired and our 
powers are no longer fresh we do well to seek 
refreshing — to seek to be refreshed ; and when 
there have been great drafts upon us and we 



92 Thomas Hill Rich. 

are exhausted and, so to speak, worn out, we 
should seek recreation, that is, should seek to 
be re-created. But diversion, entertainment, 
refreshing, recreation, tell of earnest work 
already done, and presently to be resumed. 

"Life is real and life is earnest," 

for in it there is much to be brought to a 
head or, more elegantly and using one word 
for four, there is much to be achieved. Who 
shall teach us how to bring all our works to a 
successful issue, how to be achieving? Often 
in the New Testament when Christ is called 
Master, the original has dtddurxaXoSj which is 
properly teacher — school-master, it might be. 
The law was not school-master, as the Author- 
ized Version says in Galatians 3 : 24, but 
rather was like the slave, who at Athens led 
the boy to school and was his tutor, i.e., his 
guardian, on the way thither. So the Revision 
reads the law was our tutor to bring us to 
Christ. Christ the teacher bids us come to Him 
to learn. The Greek for learner is fxadrjt^q^ 
which in the New Testament is represented by 
disciple, which is, properly, a little learner, a 
diminutive, testifying of humility in the learner 
and of tender love on the part of the teacher. 
If as true disciples we come to learn of Christ 
the Teacher, He will show us the way to 
achievement, even the way to win a kingdom 
and life everlasting. 



Memorial. 93 

The Greek verb -napaxaXia) is literally, to 
call to or by one's side, an then to exhort, as 
to battle, and to beautiful deeds. napaxX-qroq 
a derivative of the verb just mentioned, desig- 
nates one called to one's side for help, espe- 
cially in a court of justice, — an advocate. The 
original has napaxX-qroq in the passage that 
says : " We have an advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the righteous." Adopting this 
Greek word, with a slight change, we have 
our word Paraclete — applied to the Holy 
Spirit. His help, too, may be invoked, for 
He is ready to help our infirmities. We may 
give to TtapaxX-qroq an active sense, and then it 
represents the Holy Spirit as near by and 
calling; us to battle with the sin within us and 
about us, exhorting us to the pursuit of all 
that is lovely and of good report. 

napdzArjotq, exhortation, is likewise from 
TtapaxaXiw. It describes Barnabas, who was 
rather a son of exhortation than a son of con- 
solation ; and so we read a little further on 
in Acts 11, even in the Authorized Version, 
that when Barnabas came to Antioch, he ex- 
horted them all with full purpose of heart to 
cleave unto the Lord. The exhorting of these 
words is not given in coldness, but is full of 
heart and cheer. We might render them sev- 
erally by encourage, encourager, encourage- 
ment. This last is well placed by the Re vis- 



94 Thomas Hill Rich. 

ion in Hebrews 6 : 18, for to those who lay 
hold of the Gospel hope the immutability of 
God's counsel is rather a source of strong en- 
couragement than of strong consolation. The 
encouragement is broader and takes in conso- 
lation. And so we see that while the Holy 
Spirit exhorts to battle and to beautiful deeds, 
He cheers with promise of victory and of the 
exceeding great reward. 

The transliteration paraclete is not found 
in the New Testament, but there The Com- 
forter stands for 6icapazfa}Toq, when used as a 
designation of the Holy Spirit. But com- 
forter is from the Latin confortare, which, 
embodying in itself the Latin adjective fortis, 
is plainly to make strong, and only in a sec- 
ondary sense, to console. In this, its primary 
sense, comfort is often met with in our early 
literature. 

In Luke 1 : 80, where we now read : "And 
the child grew and waxed strong in spirit," 
Wyclif renders : "And the child waxed and 
was comforted." And later, Tyndale renders 
Luke 22 : 43 : "And there appeared an angel 
unto him from Heaven, comforting him," 
where we now read that an angel from 
Heaven strengthened Christ. 

We need not only to be strengthened in 
our sorrows — consoled if you will, but to be 
strengthened in temptation and in all our work 



Memorial. 95 

of life, that we may resist the evil and cleave 
to duty. We are compassed by infirmity, and 
every moment have need of help. But God 
is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask than parents are to give good gifts to 
their children ; and the Holy Spirit is the 
Comforter. 

"Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, 
Or others — that we are not alway strong — 
That we are ever overborne with care — 

That we should ever weak or heartless be, 
Anxious or troubled — when with us is prayer, 
And joy, and strength, and courage are with God?" 

which come to us through the Holy Spirit, the 
Comforter. 

Thus words tell us of work, of diligence in 
its performance, of help at hand, whereby we 
make it successful and victorious. 

" Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 
And the grave is not its goal ; 
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 
Was not spoken of the soul. 

"Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
Is our destined end or way ; 
But to act ! that each to-morrow 
Find us farther than to-day. 

"Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And departing, leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time ; — 



96 Thomas Hill Rich. 

"Footprints, that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, shall take heart again. 

" Let us then be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 

January, 1887. 

Qopied and revised August 5, 1887. 

T. H. Rich. 



